At the postgame news conference, Rutgers women’s basketball coach Vivian Stringer was asked to make an opening statement.
“I thought Notre Dame was very good,” Stringer said.
That’s it. Nothing further. No elaboration.
But then, not much more needed to be said about No. 3 Notre Dame’s 67-46 victory over No. 9 Rutgers on Saturday at the Joyce Center.
Notre Dame’s all-around skill trumped the tireless defensive efforts of Rutgers (8-4, 1-1 Big East), allowing the Irish to maintain their perfect record (14-0, 3-0).
“In the Big East you pretty much have to go undefeated, or lose one game, if you’re going to win the conference,” Irish coach Muffet McGraw said.
Saturday’s victory over Rutgers was yet another steppingstone on the path toward the Jan. 15 showdown with No. 1 Connecticut.
“They were probably one of the most efficient teams that I’ve seen,” Stringer said.
Indeed, there wasn’t much the Irish did wrong. Notre Dame shot 53 percent from the field and 63 percent from beyond the three-point line.
Center Ruth Riley led the way, shooting 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the field while racking up 22 points. Niele Ivey added 15, and Alicia Ratay and Kelley Siemon had 11 apiece.
The Scarlet Knights’ only offensive beacon was senior center Tammy Sutton-Brown, who finished with 19. Linda Miles added nine.
Both teams had 33 rebounds. Although the Irish had only eight off the offensive glass, as compared to 15 for the Rutgers, even that did not concern McGraw. “When you shoot the ball 53 percent from the field, there aren’t as many opportunities to get offensive rebounds,” she said.
For all of their offensive efficiency, the play of Notre Dame’s zone defense may have been even more impressive. Rutgers shot just 31.5 percent (17-of-54) from the field and made just 1-of-15 from beyond the three-point line.
“We tried to hold them to no threes in the game,” McGraw said.
Rutgers cut Notre Dame’s lead to 5-4 on a Sutton-Brown layup with 15 minutes 52 seconds left in the first half. The Scarlet Knights did not score their fifth point until almost six minutes later, when Sutton-Brown hit one of two free throws. By then the Irish advantage was 15.
“We knew going into the game that Rutgers was kind of a streaky shooting team,” Ivey said.
Stringer was much more blunt. “We haven’t proven anything,” she said. “We don’t deserve to be a Top 20 team. We’re overrated.”
McGraw, on the other hand, knows the true test of Notre Dame’s talent will come against the Huskies a week from Monday. Still, she couldn’t find much to complain about Saturday.
“I’m pretty excited by this win,” McGraw said. “Right now, I’m only seeing positives with this team.”
